Supposedly, as one beginning to suffer from arthritis, he developed the Tai-Chi for Arthritis form for himself, but he also sells more hard core martial arts videos too. After taking Bob's class, I bought Dr. Paul Lam's Tai Chi for Arthritis DVD. This DVD is lame, especially compared to the live instruction I received from Bob. The DVD itself was poorly organized; it's like they took the VHS and transferred it to DVD with almost no consideration for the power the DVD provides. Moreover, the form is short, including a handful of movements, and Dr. Lam focuses on the mechanical performance of his form. I was expecting some treatment for breathing and chi control. There's a 20-minute block at the beginning where his star pupils give testimonials, various doctor and therapist talk to talking-points about the importance of spinal alignment, working joints to alleviate arthritis, and maintaining muscle tone. Also, the whole form can be finished in about 2 minutes. The warm-up routine took longer! We're supposed to perform Tai-Chi for 20 to 30 minutes, are we supposed to repeat the form 15 times?

OK, I'm done ranting; I'm still glad I bought the DVD. The good points about the DVD are that Dr. Lam presents a new movement by demonstration, then by talking you through it a few times while a pupil demonstrations from different angles. Dr. Lam names the movements, so when you see the list of 9 movements, you know what to do, if you know the movements.

There is a "Part 2" DVD for Tai Chi for Arthritis that expands on these first movements. Basically, you repeat the first one, but switch left and right, then add a new set of movements. Add a couple bridging movements and you end up with a 31-movement form:

Part I

  1. Commencement Form
  2. Opening and Closing Hands
  3. Single Whip (right)
  4. Waving Hands in the Cloud (right)
  5. Opening and Closing Hands
  6. Brush Knee and Twist Step (left)
  7. Playing the Lute
  8. Step Forward To Deflect Downwards, Parry and Punch
  9. Block and Close
  10. Pushing the Mountain
  11. Opening and Closing Hands

Part II-Repeat, Swapping Left and Right

  1. Single Whip (left)
  2. Waving Hands in the Cloud (left)
  3. Opening and Closing Hands
  4. Brush Knee and Twist Step (right)
  5. Playing the Lute
  6. Step Forward To Deflect Downwards, Parry and Punch
  7. Block and Close
  8. Pushing the Mountain
  9. Opening and Closing Hands

Part II-New Movements

  1. Brush Knee and Twist Step (right)
  2. Leisurely Tying Coat
  3. Opening and Closing Hands
  4. Single Whip (left)
  5. Punch Underneath Elbow
  6. Repulse Monkey (left)
  7. Repulse Monkey (right)
  8. Brush Knee and Twist Step (left)
  9. Leisurely Tying Coat
  10. Opening and Closing Hands
  11. Closing Form

One more rant: the DVD could have been much better if each new move was it's own chapter. I could have done a "chapter selection" feature to find the "Pushing Mountain" movement, then the skip back to the beginning of the chapter to repeat as needed. But, NO. The whole form is a chapter. I have to fast forward through each new movement to get to "Pushing Mountain". At least I don't have to fast forward through the testimonials....

See their website at http://www.taichiforarthritis.com/.